Catholic Hermit Ponders Pseudo-Dionysius' Mystical Advice

Marvelous how His Real Presence gives us what we need, when we are needful and ready to receive.
From the works of Pseudo-Dionysius, The Mystical Theology....

"...my advice to you as you look for a sight to the mysterious things, is to leave behind you everything perceived and understood, everything perceptible and understandable, all that is not and all that is, and with your understanding laid aside, to strive upward as much as you can toward union with him who is beyond all being and knowledge.  

"By an undivided and absolute abandonment of yourself and everything, shedding all and freed from all, you will be uplifted to the ray of the divine shadow which is above everything that is."

And then this bit of advice is so apropos, as well!

"But see to it that none of this comes to the hearing of the uniformed, that is to say to those caught up with the things of the world, who imagine that there is nothing beyond instances of individual being and who think that by their own intellectual resources they can have a direct knowledge of him who has made the shadows his hiding place.  

"And if initiation to the divine is beyond such people, what is to be said of those others, still more uniformed, who describe the transcendent Cause of all things in terms derived from the lowest orders of being, and who claim that it is in no way superior to the godless, multiformed shapes they have made?  What has actually to be said about the Cause of everything is this.  

"Since it is the Cause of all beings, we should posit and ascribe to it all the affirmations we make in regard to beings, and more appropriately, we should negate all these affirmations, since it surpasses all being.  Now we should not conclude that the negations are simply the opposites of the affirmations, but rather that the cause of all is considerably prior to this, beyond privations, beyond every denial, beyond every assurance."

There is more, not much more, but perhaps for another time.  He shares more of God and our ascension into Him, our assumption, our subsummation--perhaps this is the way to describe, without being able to ever describe our union with God.

Catholic Hermit Correspondence: Suffering and the One Reality

Someone has sought information on what does a Catholic hermit "do".  Amidst various tangible and intangible activities or doing, this consecrated Catholic hermit corresponds with others from time to time.  The topics run the gamut of all aspects of our lives, yet always delving into the spiritual questions and understandings we gain over time and life experiences--trials and joys.  We learn, grow, pray for, support one another, and also we reflect upon God's reaching into our lives, and deep into our souls.  

Here is an example of this Catholic hermit's correspondence, shared as a sample mainly because the recipient though it quite helpful.  A good aspect, though, about thoughts, insights, ponderings that we set into written format, is that farther on in our life's pilgrimage, there arise other or additional insights, further understandings.  It is part of the holy spiral, with alterations in growth as prolific as the tiny, new threadling roots beneath the soil, or as the numerous branchings of fresh shootlings of tree limbs.

Dear K,

It was rather a grace to awaken at exactly 6 a.m. this morning.  Usually do not sleep that well to not wake up at 2 or 3 or 4 a.m. with pain issues.  So figure God is giving a grace so that I would be in prayer and rejoicing with you, in your time with M, to start at 9 a.m. for you, there, where you are.

Was it the chapter on the Cross--12--in the Second Book of The Imitation of Christ that you commented upon being difficult to embrace or accept, understand?  It is on suffering.  Find it to be so very accurate--yet difficult to embrace or want to accept because it goes so contrary to how we might want it otherwise.  But the fact does remain that Jesus said the very same things, in fewer words, and also by His life.  I need to remember how He surely must have felt--the human part of  him--when his own family thought He was crazy, and also in His grief in the Garden of Gethsemane--broken by treachery and so much suffering, weeping, and feeling abandoned.  Yet he endured it all.  Even on the cross He complained to the Father, in a way--asking "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"  

My God!  My God!  We can cry this out, with Him.  I do, often enough.

I marvel at the saints having voluntarily taken on sufferings, though.  But it made sense when the author of The Imitation wrote that there is no escaping--that we try to run from one bad situation but the next can and likely will be worse.  That has been the case here; and I suppose some day looking back, whether on earth or not, I will see how very valuable this experience has been--if for nothing else, the great humiliation and humbling it has brought.

When the pain is not so intense, not as intense as a siege, I tend to be able to handle matters better--even the one who continues to try to demean and strip me of human dignity or credibility, temporally or spiritually, and of suggesting no place as a Catholic.  I can see it as very good, in fact, and so true as to what a twist in perspective can wring out of someone's mind to that which is actually the case, the truth. And also I realize that none of it matters, what is said or we may be judged by some, and can see the foolishness of being by some action of others, or thinking ourselves "approved" or "valid" when in fact, a person may not be (and likely not be) any more than anyone else, in God's Reality.

I do see the great divergence in the Church, though, and it seems no different than what the Jewish priests and people tended to dig themselves into, with their laws and their judging of others.  They so judged Jesus and had judged John the Baptist--other than some who admired him a lot, and of course, many more quiet ones loved Jesus and followed Him--causing the insecure others to get all the more riled.

So it seems that the world and the laws that people make up, sincerely hoping to help the worship or to keep things right and strict, only end up being abused and interpreted in whatever way suits the views of people and their wishes.  And that then causes more discord and takes the very rule makers and rule seekers and those thinking they are abiding by their rules, farther away from Christ and His teachings and life, than what was before.

Today is the feast of St. Francis of Paoli, a hermit.  He was in exile in an extreme way for six years or more.  He was not a priest but founded an order upon his way of life, which was also rather extreme but quite simple and thus freed him to be in Christ more fully.  Eventually, he did ask a bishop or pope or someone like that, to approve his rule of life--one that he wrote later on.  He had many gifts and graces bestowed by God; and for this, I marvel at how then, others can so question and judge anyone's life and circumstances.  

I realize how I have judged so much in the past, when I thought I was securely living out properly every temporal aspect in the Church, before I came to grasp the two worlds of the Church.  I remember Bishop X arguing the point that there is but one "reality"--even if he agreed to concede there are very much the two worlds.  Perhaps it is a problem to consider them all as one; for how can the temporal which is always passing away, truly be one with the eternal, which is of those aspects that are "above", as St. Paul asks us to think--that which is above and not below...or that Jesus said He did not belong to this world below but came from above.

Truly, it is when I get slogged down with the below and the things of the temporal, that the virtues tend to get weakened if not even lost--shot down by the temporal realities.  Then it is the grace of God and that which is of His Real Presence and not of this temporal world, that lifts up, once again.

So perhaps we fool ourselves.  Yes, we do enjoy the temporal beauty of a lovely church building and the temporal aspects of the Mass, or so we think.  We like a good priest and homilist, and the aesthetic qualities that are so beautiful in this world, and that are incorporated in worship.  But if it were not for the reality of the spiritual, the purity of the Holy Essence of the Mass, the one reality of the One, the Being, the Truth, the Way, the Life, the Living Word, His Real Presence--all the other would not have any kind of worth or usefulness.  

The passing temporalities are stepping stones if even that.  But when they become the emphasis, misconstrued as the One Reality, then the actual or One Reality gets skewed and our lives--our souls--falter.  There really seems to be only the One Reality, and that is God.  And the temporal is not a reality but is a means to and aspect of the one reality.  Seems like that, and when I forget that reality of the One Reality, the body, mind, heart, and spirit then gets messed up and side-tracked.

When I can view the intricacies of fitting plumbing ABS pipe and elbows in order to achieve the proper venting for flow of sewer off-gas, to rise eventually out the roof, as stepping stones or a passing temporal process, then I can have peace and a kind of joy in plumbing as the process points to the one reality, for there really is just One, and that is:  God Is All.  And that Reality, His Real Presence, is single and solo yet in Three-ness.  The temporal is an aspect of the One, a symbol in tangibles for us when we are not yet capable of the fullness of the One Reality, of the spiritual, the mystical essence and substance of the humanly, unfathomable reality in His Real Presence. 

Perhaps rather than fearing and not being comfortable with the way my mind leaves and blacks out from the temporal when the pain becomes so intense, I should consider it more a participation in the One Reality, His Real Presence, in His Spirit, or as an ecstasy wrought of pain, of sorts, for I am no longer then tied to the temporal which is passing away, not the eternal, ever Present One Reality.  

There is nothing spiritual about pain and suffering in itself.  But there is everything good and spiritual about it as a stepping stone or a temporal aspect of the One Reality which is God.  And no matter how hard we try, we cannot ever accurately name or create any temporal description of God.

In that sense, we can place suffering very close to God.  In the many temporal ways we try to make rules and laws in order to control matters of God, or create medications to try to manage or control temporal pain, they only keep us farther from His reality--a reality we really cannot temporally control or name.

Oh well.

Praying you and M are having a wholly and holy spiritual love together, today!

God bless His Real Presence in us, and Love in His LOVE,

Yet, There Is God

Despite all else, when health declines some with added pain, there is always God.  No matter if in remote area, as many if not most hermits live physically in solitude and far away from the bustle of activity and people, there is yet God.

More so, perhaps, does the hermit depend upon and seek God, and find His Real Presence, in the details of life itself, in the very solitude, silence, and slowness of a life dedicated to adoration and love of God.  And, thus, in such adoration and love of His Real Presence, the hermit loves all of God Who loves all of His created and creation.

This is the connection with all, through God Is Love.

A hermit who seeks union with God Is Love, with His Real Presence, must be in His will and accept the flow of the vocation in all its earthly yield, its ebb and tide, daily and nightly.  The hermit thus must not be surprised that its temporal life begins to take on the pattern of the cross, the pattern of Christ's life, and trace His footsteps.

In practical terms, this means suffering physically as well as embracing and accepting the criticisms and calumnies from others who mean well in part, but who have not yet been able to, nor perhaps are meant to, understand or comprehend the poverty of the cross.

This Catholic hermit is more and more realizing and attempting to embrace the poverty of the cross.  Daily the stepping along in Christ's footsteps leads to increasing detachment from that which is not of things above.  What can be accomplished in physical effort is made up for in prayer, for this communication with His Real Presence does not cease and will not cease even when mortal breath gasps its last.

The Sacraments grow deep within.  The connection is spiritual over temporal, and the deep becomes deeper, beyond the ken of even what the mind had considered, for there was no considering what the unknown of the duc in altum would bring.  No one can anticipate the unknown of His Real Presence, of walking in his footsteps, for where He treads has but only one given, and that is poverty--poverty of self, poverty of temporal, poverty of spirit.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God.

Seeing His Face and being kissed on the lips by His Lips, and living His Life both earthly and divine, is the heartfelt desire of the hermit who has left the world to find heaven, on earth as it is in heaven.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another, for when the footsteps of Christ lead to Golgatha, and all else of the temporal (even the temporal aspects of church) fades and yields to the spiritual:  yet, there is God.

On Being Subsumed into Christ

Found this old email which had sent to the late Bishop, when he was spiritual director.  Was attempting to explain some insights about the temporal and the mystical aspects, and that of the two "worlds" of the Church and more so, of our very existence as souls in tangible bodies and our experience, or hoped-for experience, of being subsumed into His Real Presence.

Looking back, it is more apparent now why the bishop would put his hands to his head and exclaim, "Too much!  Too much for me to grasp!"  He meant well but was steeped in the temporal Catholic world [which someone recently and aptly termed also, the "secular Church"] by all the responsibilities in and to that world of administering a diocese and many employees.  

In his retirement (which ended up being quite brief as God plucked him out rapidly), he was not so much interested in the mystical realities; he was tired and wanted to be loved and to love, particularly the young people he enjoyed being with at high school football games.  It was sweet, that, but the spiritual direction was rather at a point of disconnect.  Yes, it was a disconnect.

The letter below was an attempt in trying yet again to explain to him some insights received during the mystical experiences in Mass and how they manifest in our spiritual-temporal existences.  I'm sure he understands better, now, on the other side.

"I am living the temporal humanity of Christ. I bear His temporal pain and breathe His soul's suffering. But only when the human is subsumed in His mystical Divinity is there one Joy, one Love, the one Reality: God.

"Only then do the two worlds [temporal and mystical] become one reality, the Divine Reality.
The temporal is a shadow of the full humanity of Christ, without union in the mystical reality of His Divinity.

"The temporal Catholic world is a holding cell.  Humans must pass through the mystic portal in order to come to full humanity of Christ in His Divinity, to then be one in the One in one true reality.

"I hope I am stating it meaningfully, accurately; words are incompetent.

"It is something like this, and I must get through the mystic portal with His physical and soul suffering, in order to be in the true reality, the one reality of oneness in God.

"Do you see that the Sacraments, all of them, but most frequently Eucharist in Mass and reconciliation in confession, are parts of the portal and are passage points for the temporal to enter into the mystical, and that without the One in reality of the mystical in these sacraments, there would be nothing? 

"Jesus in His full humanity is the Divine ever-flowing into within the temporal.  He is not the temporal occasionally touching the mystical.  When we pain-bearing, soul-suffering humans pass through the mystic portal to be subsumed in His Divinity, we awash the temporal in and by His living waters.  We then may fully live His humanity divine as we have become one with the One Reality."
  
Always concluded emails to him and others with these verses; such beautifully expressed truths: 

"My soul doth magnify the Lord.  And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."--Luke 1:46-47 
"Because He that is mighty, hath done great things to me, and Holy is His Name." --Luke 1:49

Catherine of Siena a Pal

This nothing Catholic hermit is reading more of an obscure biography of Catherine of Siena.  It is helpful to find older volumes which are well-researched and filled with details. These provide more accurate and in depth knowledge of the times and lives of people who can be great friends and guides along the spiritual journey.

She had a state occur during Mass, for example.  She would lose her faculties, and people resented it.  Some would pinch her repeatedly trying to "awaken" her from what they assumed rude sleeping or fake experience.  She was also shoved plenty of times.  The other women in the secular Dominican group she joined and wore the Third-order habit, did not appreciate her being in their group. She was younger, very spiritual, and fresh in her devotion.

One time during Mass when she was in her state, unable to move or react, two men lifted her up, hauled her out of the church, and dumped her outside along the street.  Others came along and kicked her seeming lifeless form.  She did have a priest  who was also a relative as someone she could talk with, and she had later a spiritual director who wrote the most prevalent biography of her life, still in print.

She lived like a hermit in her parents' home after having been punished by them in an attempt to get her to agree to marrying.  They also wanted her to give up religious practices which seemed to them quite severe.  They treated her as a slave for a time period, but her father witnessed a spiritual phenomenon and realized she truly was called by God to be His own.  It was then that her father announced to his wife and her siblings that she was to be allowed henceforth all leeway in her religious practices and devotions. 

Thus, she became like a hermit and spent hours in solitude and silence in a small room she took as her cell.  She had only a small couch upon which to sit or recline.  She ate her small meal portions there but increasingly honed her appetite to eating very little.  She communed with Jesus and other holy souls, including the Virgin Mary, and she lived with her visions and dreams and locutions.  She also detached greatly from family members as she realized Jesus' words in Scripture had a literal and spiritual impact, that of being willing to depart from others, even mother and father, in order to follow Jesus.  In her case, she detached emotionally more than physically, although she was rarely seen by household members during her hermit-type, solitary phase.

One message regarding suffering is quite helpful--besides the great statement Jesus made to her that she is nothing and He Is All.  As for pain, Jesus told her that it is not the pain that pleases Him, but rather it is the willingness of a soul to endure pain with fortitude, that pleases Him.

All these aspects and more, are so helpful in knowing one is not alone in the midst of trials, suffering, and adapting to one's vocation of the hermit life and of suffering.  Even Catherine's dealing with mystical phenomenon and the reactions of others, is most helpful to recognize and ponder in relationship to human interaction among those who have a distinct calling that requires stricter separation from the temporal aspects of the secular and church world.

Another interesting fact is that the author of this particular volume on Catherine's life, points out several others in the history of the church who were given glimpses of the two worlds--the temporal and the mystical.  Some referred to them as the two cities, or the two realms, or the two loves, or the two paths.  They are the reality of the two ways within our spiritual lives which are actualities of temporal and spiritual, and that the temporal is always passing away.  

The temporal can become a hindrance to the spiritual growth of the soul; however we are temporal beings and spiritual beings, both.  The admonitions of Jesus, though, are to seek to find and exist in the spiritual and not succumb to the temporal as dominate, for it is passing, and we are called to heaven on earth.  We are called to the spiritual forever.

Thus, the two worlds:  the temporal Catholic world and the mystical Catholic world are nothing more than the realities of which others all through the centuries have been given insight and called by various terms, by those who the Church has elevated and deemed saints.  These realities and terms designating the two aspects of our lives and our spirits, and of which we are to not succumb and that of which we are to seek, is nothing new.  The temporal exists and yet should always yield and flow into the spiritual, which should predominate.

As for vocations, it always seems best when one is called by God and answers His call.  Catherine did struggle with her vocation and had great temptations to the married life, within herself.  Yet she overcame the thoughts and the desires.  She was adamant to her parents that she did not want any other spouse than Jesus; but the devil did torment her, and she often had desires for husband and children up to a certain point in her spiritual journey.  She did much violence to herself in order to conquer many distractions and temporal desires she did experience, even if not publicized much.

Digging deeper into the lived temporal and spiritual lives of people who have since been considered holy souls, provides us with greater understanding.  The puzzle pieces of our own lives can better fall into place.  We have consolation and encouragement to persevere and not doubt.  We gain fortitude in pressing on.  We place ourselves all the more in His Real Presence and away from the scrutiny of others who are also yet struggling with their own spiritual journeys and who are not within our bodies, minds, hearts or spirits to begin to grasp or make judgments.

Catherine and others who have lived, struggled, doubted, and yet endured with fortitude the sufferings and the criticisms, and died leaving details enough to encourage those of us called in our distinctive spiritual journeys, are inspired friends speaking to us in the Order of the Present Moment.

Now, this nothing, this nothing Catholic hermit, must rise and bundle, for the desert chill has increased each night and morning, and the manual labor must progress along with a hermit's prayers and loving devotion to His Real Presence.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another for love is of God!

Be An Immolation in the Mass

My spiritual father was quite ill but improving, thankfully so.  We spoke on the phone yesterday, and I reported my daily Mass experiences in the more local parish.  He had advised me to go there, give it a try, despite being told a year ago by the priest there that I was not allowed to attend daily Mass--only Saturday evening and in the cry room, at that.

Friday's Mass, commemorating the Assumption of Mary, was in the main church with more people than the eight or so who go to the daily Mass.  What has become the usual reaction by people came to fruition.  Some anger with those assuming I was rudely sleeping with the kneeler slammed from behind into the pew, people after Mass avoiding eye contact or pleasantry.

The woman I met the day before spoke, however, saying she noticed that I seemed not aware from the beginning of the Scripture reading through the end.  She said, "You missed the whole Mass!  You weren't aware of any of it!"  I quietly responded that I was very deeply aware, more than could be described.  "I am subsumed into the Mass."  She then said, "But you did not receive the Eucharist!"  I replied that I receive at a very deep level, in a dimension beyond the temporal."  I added that I thought she had the capacity to grasp this, and she said she did.

Still, she kept asking, "So I don't need to worry about you, then?  I can stop worrying?"

I told my spiritual father that it is becoming repetitively sad that we Catholics seem unable to leave off with the assumptions, the judging, the doubting, the fear of what is but an unobtrusive, quiet, stilled experience of the numinous during Mass, albeit not usual but also not unheard of.  I felt sorry that the woman took upon herself to "worry."  Worry about what?  That my soul was in peril?  That I was not aware based upon her assumptions?  That I did not receive His Real Presence tangibly?

She represents us all, I suppose, when we are so in tune with the temporal and external appearances.  But my spiritual father said it is at and in the Mass that we all ought to be immolated.  I had told him that this is my immolation, being at Mass yet under the scrutiny, fear, doubt and judgment of others over what does not neatly fit neatly into the temporal view.

I admit to having awakened this morning, thoroughly sickened to the core with realizing how easy it is for us to fall into making assumptions and being too caught up in temporal views and entangling judgments.  The experiences I am gaining are teaching me in ways nothing other could supersede as a good lesson in seeking the spiritual view of love and mercy and of not succumbing to infertile ground. (Nothing grows there.)

In but four daily Masses, there is consternation among them.  I did approach an older woman to say hello and ascertain if she is the other woman who the man (of the Potato Novena family) told me seemed to be a thoughtful woman.  Evidently she did not recognize me in glasses, for she immediately asked, "Who IS this woman who is coming here now?  Is she a PARISHIONER?"  I realized her confusion, and said perhaps this woman she noticed is or will be....

This is His will to which I am called:  Be an immolation.  I have assurance within, during Mass. that His Real Presence is conforming my body, mind, heart and soul to Him as well as utilizing me in mystical ways for whatever He wills within me and within others.  I am to be an immolation and in that, also, a conduit of His love and mercy.

I stand corrected in many aspects, and fear must be transformed to its flip side:  Faith.

There is no need to be driving longer distances to attend Mass where the parish may be more in tune with good and holy activities of education and outreach, where the priest may be more plugged into his vocation.  The people's reactions have not proven to be any better.

That and this is for all of us.  I realize that each person, each body, each heart, mind and soul present at and in Mass, is an agent of change and fuller realization of all the Sacraments, including His Living Word, evident in temporal and mystical actualization.  We are called from the limitations of the temporal and move toward the mystical, the supernal spiritual--as the priest ought stand at the portal, pointing to and leading us into the Promised Land. 

The instruction to "Be an immolation" requires only that, and very much simply of "being."  I am present in the Mass, very much among and deeply within the Body of Christ in silence and prayerful union of conformity through, with and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Little children, let us love one another.  Love Is of God.  God bless His Real Presence in us!

Catholic Hermit Reports on Water Walking

I've been busy removing some insulation in a vaulted ceiling in order to just do the job correctly.  Right is always right, in the temporal or the spiritual realms.

I did not want to spend a couple more days, at least, tediously measuring and cutting 2x4's and 2x6's in small sections and nail gunning them between the ceiling joists every two feet.  I had talked myself into just having the ceiling planking run counter to the flooring boards and opposite direction from other ceilings in the lower level.  It is God's time, and I decided to use the time He gives me to do it properly.  This must be the way in both the temporal and spiritual life.

I also attempted the water walking I mentioned in the last post, striving to do so in great faith.  I went not to one morning Mass at the more local parish (still takes half an hour each way), but I have participated in two morning Masses.  It does take courage to go where a priest has said I was not allowed at daily Masses and only at the Saturday evening, and in the cry room behind the plate glass window with little children and parents about.  The other parishioners could see me right there, out of place, and in the mystical state, immobilized.

That had not gone well a year ago.  I'm thankful my spiritual father said to go, regardless, at least to try out the daily Mass--and not ask permission.  If God wants me at Mass, that is enough.

I never know if the state will happen or how it will be.  But, it happened per usual, with the onset of His Real Presence in His Living Word.  Two things occurred deeply within but allowing me to remember them, and a third temporal thing happened at the end of Mass but before I could speak or move.

His Real Presence reminded me to have compassion for this priest who has not wanted to be a parish priest and does the bare minimum.  Even at that, he alters Mass and eliminates much if not most spiritual development in the parish.  These matters and more, are not only from my observation either externally or intuitively.  They are fact.  And part of the reason I stopped attending there was due to the source of anguish during Mass, when celebrated in disarray and disobedience.

Yet, I was being reminded to have compassion for him, and that was that.  The other experience I recall during the state at Mass, on Monday, was that much love and energy of healing was flowing through me and aimed to the left, to a man (I knew no one there) who had a suffering in his throat or esophagus.  I could hear clearly his difficulty and the tick-type noise emanating every so often.  I was shown what a suffering it was--difficult, constant, relentless--and to pray for him as well as allow the flow to the left.  So I cooperated in faith.

The temporal intrusion was toward or at the end of Mass when someone tapped my knee and another was concerned, but someone said they noticed my little sign that fortunately I remembered to put on my lap.  "Do not disturb.  Do not call 911.  Meditating."  That is what in the past I was directed to write so that people would not worry when they could not rouse me, and thus would not injure me by accident.

I also met a woman that the young couple of the Potato Novena had told me to try to meet.  I thought she looked like a secular Carmelite, Discalced, somehow.  His Real Presence is so good to help us in all matters!  But she could not resist what so many Catholics seem to not be able to stave off:  judging, questioning, doubting, and fearing.  

I thus mentioned to her, kindly, that she was doing the same thing that others have done, which is not productive.  I suggested we should let the phenomenon be as it is in Mass, but otherwise get along and enjoy one another as Christians and Catholics, and allow me to be the otherwise regular person that I am.

But she could not easily move forth from it.  She had assumed and then asked me if it was a medical condition.  I will not lie so answered it is a spiritual occurrence.  From there, she started showing the telltale signs of trying to figure it out in terms of temporal doubt and fear.  She repeated three times that I should have a priest guiding me, and sort of shook her head to the negative as if to imply I need more scrutinizing. 

Three times I repeated that I do have a priest [and we all have the Great High Priest!] guiding me, and in fact had called him early that morning, and he instructed me to try the daily Mass despite being told a year ago I was not allowed to be there by the parish priest, and also to talk with the orthodox priest of a parish farther away. 

Then she asked me if I am a practicing Catholic and mentioned, questioned me as to various aspects of regulations.  Just seemed odd, out of place.  I realized we were on different wavelengths and cross-purposes just following our participation in the mystical feast, the Mass.

In my 19 years as a Catholic, I have never had the notion or thought to ever ask anyone if he or she is a practicing Catholic.  It never came to mind, nor would I have the presumption even if it had.  In my 44 years as a Protestant, nothing of the like ever came to mind to ask if one is a practicing Protestant or practicing Christian, or if they are "saved."

 I returned to the daily Mass today, Wednesday.  The priest takes Tuesday and Saturday off.  I decided to because I felt more strongly that I must do as Jesus told me a couple years ago.  He showed me parishioners (a clutch of women in foreground and women and men and priests in the background).  He said they would criticize and misjudge me, but that I was to pay no attention.  (I realize this is repetitive of what I've already shared, but it kept coming to me when praying if I should return to daily Mass here, especially with how the one woman reacted and questioned.)

Today the state was more conscious of the Mass itself, noting parts eliminated but all else flowing, as I do not recall specifics other than the assurance it was all right.  But I was told deep within, that these people including the priest are not my judges.  Jesus is my judge.  I was also told that I am not their judge, either.  Jesus is their judge.  His Real Presence "nailed it."  My heart quickened with these realizations and truths.  They are imbedded forever in my will, intellect and very soul.

 The last couple of days, while sawing and nailing boards, it also came to me in prayer that His Real Presence is expecting me to practice more the fifth S out of the Nine S':  Selflessness.  And this means to be selfless unto Him at Mass, no matter what people think or say, or judge or fear, doubt or scrutinize.  

It came to me that "Be an immolation" includes being so, right there in the Mass amidst our conjoined humanity, and allowing myself to be utilized by His Real Presence in whatever way or means He wills and desires.  If it is to be used as a conduit of love and healing to someone either physically there or presented in inner sight, or if it is to be told truths and directives that I need to be told and thus to obey and change my own wretched heart and soul and outlook--just be there and be an immolation of His Love.

As best I can, if bodily pain allows, I will continue in faith, knowing that I am not there for my inclusion or with regard to any interaction or temporal utilization.  I am there to be an immolation so that His Real Presence can work in my soul as well as flow through me if He wills and desires, in any ways He wills and desires, for others present in person or in spirit, this world or the other.

I must continue stepping out of the boat and into what can be stormy and fearsome waters, in faith.  I must walk across the waters, and if I start to sink, He will reach out and lift me up.  Have no fear.  Be an immolation.  Practice the S of selflessness, by His example and grace.

God bless His Real Presence in us.

Amazing, Another Hymn Gifted Today

It is all so easy, so simple.  I recall years ago when His Real Presence started opening more my awareness of His presence, guidance, love, mercy, healing and friendship interacting always.  At first some thought or glimpse or sound of the inner senses I'd brush away, thinking, "Naw, that is nothing."  But He pursued me, in a way, and I started to realize that what was not, truly was and IS His Real Presence touching, embracing, whispering, presenting Himself.  Such a gentle Lover!

This morning I awoke, and the music to this hymn flowed through my being.  The only words I caught from the flow were "God is love, God is love."  Then as the tune through me again, I heard "all ye little children."  These were enough to do a Google search.  Listening to it on YouTube verified the tune.  It is a known children's hymn, author unknown but the music was written by British Baptist minister, Carey Bonner in 1904.

When hymns are given me at the start of the day, it is a message from His Real Presence.  The words themselves are a message; but the music aspect rather than His giving only a word message, is to tell me to lift the mind and heart to a higher level of communication.  Music and art are communications of a different level and mode of glorifying God.  Just as poetry is a higher form of verbal and written communication, music and art require a higher mode of interpretation through senses and symbol.  

Music can be quite healing as it takes the outer and inner "eyes" from the thinking effort and allows the inner and outer ear to absorb the benefit without much effort of the mind.  Especially with the following hymn's simple words of love and the touch of the Apostle John's oft-repeated sentiment, "Little children, let us love another."

It is said that when John was on Patmos and after, in his last years, he typically and repetitively addressed others directly with the greeting, "Little children."  We find this in the Letters of John in Scripture.

I pray that many of you are asking His Real Presence for a hymn.  The angels sing praise hymns in heaven, and when we begin to fathom that His Real Presence has made His abode in us, and that we are in Him, right now, always, we can begin to grasp that we may experience heaven on earth.  Who knows but that an angel is delivering the hymn to us.  

And by hymn, it can be a tune that we connect with some secular song, but the words and intent can very much be God's words and tune to us, or our singing to Him.  We can take any song of love and lift the intention to our love of God or His love of us.  

Music is a glorious communication and praise with God and to God.  The effects of music on our minds, hearts and souls, is the same mode and effect when we learn how to communicate as God and those in heaven communicate, by thought-flashing.  Thought-flashing is the best way I can describe the instantaneous mode of communicating on the other side of the veil separating the temporal from the mystical realms. 

 
I will share later this month, my death experience, and of which the state during Mass is the closest experience to it.  But all of you have experienced thought-flashing, yet perhaps you have not considered it as such.

Now the hymn given this morning (although they can be given at any time, day or night).  This one sets the tone for me, this day.  I hope it will sing in your minds, hearts and souls, too, as praise of His Real Presence and His merciful love and heavenly balm no matter our earthly situations.

 
Praise Him, praise Him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love;
Praise Him, praise Him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love.

Love Him, love Him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love;
Love Him, love Him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love.

Thank Him, thank Him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love;
Thank Him, thank Him, all ye little children,
God is love, God is love.

What Kind of a House?

 I had another phone conversation with my spiritual Father.  I reminded him that the last time we spoke, he asked with some exasperated emotion, "What kind of a house did you buy, anyway?"  He has been concerned about the living conditions, and he well knows how the outer aspects covered over much that was wrong with this poor, old farmhouse.  Plus, he understands how people can deceive out in the big world.

But I had an answer for him.  I had asked His Real Presence the same question my spiritual Father had asked me.  Immediately came the response:  You have bought the Church.

This caused me to smile, but I also suggested that this house is also my soul.

Yes, I am finding out all kinds of things that need repair or that others did not do correctly, not to the laws of building codes, not to contractor licensing laws, infested with critters doing what is instinctual, not insulated against the weather, and with messes at every level.  There have been people in here not to be trusted, some immoral users and takers, and also, now, a good soul with his workers.  I've had to give in and ask back one who started out with good effort but slacked some.  He brings too much of the world in here, but I will guard against such and keep praying for his good.

However, the foundation is now good, and the structure is intact.  Yes, it is just that once I started to do some cosmetic repair, I discovered aspects under the surface that needed to be rid out, corrected, improved, or rebuilt.

My spiritual Father laughed and said, "Yes, that is it!  It is kind of like St. Francis rebuilding the Church, of sorts."  And I reminded him this house also represents my soul--not just the Church.

So we discussed the points expressed above, and I have my work cut out for me regarding my soul and the Church, in all that I do to try to "make all things new" in Christ in here.  It is all a marvelous but accurate metaphor.  This house represents a conglomeration of all of us in the Church, for it is people who reflect by thought, word and deed, and sometimes the reflection is too much of the world and our sins rather than of His Real Presence Who Is in us.

We just forget, I suppose, or have not yet had that nuptial kiss of God.  Once we experience the reality of His Real Presence and that we are in Him and He is in us, the picture grows clearer, brighter, lighter, more faithful, hopeful and charitable.

Yes, I have bought the Church, essentially, and such as today, my own temporal body has too much pain to be able to do much tangibly to hang drywall.  I need to either figure out some kind of brace to help hold pieces of wallboard in position on a wall so that I can secure with screws, or to pray that Francesco or Raphael might stop by and lend physical  hand, briefly.  I have all the pieces measured and ca ut.  I have noted some causes and news out in the world for which to pray and continue with my usual, inner conversation as as well as the absence of other than resting in His Real Presence.  There is much suffering but also much holy hope.

I have planted some scented, colorful perennials to beautify  and honor Te Deum:  You, God.  I watered the blueberry patch and pray they grow and develop in order to yield good fruit.  Once the afternoon heat abates and the back is rested, I will attempt pre-drilling so that a critical support partial wall, holding the ceiling joists, can be secured by 6" screws.  A worker last fall neglected that necessary detail.  I also will shoot nails into the opposite ceiling joists, as he neglected to nail those, too.  They are resting on the header plate of an exterior wall.

So, we see how to make the metaphor extend from this house to God's house to the Body of Christ, His Church, of which we are Her members.  I suppose the hiring of the worker who neglected to do some of his job relates with the local priest who avoids much to do with pastoral and spiritual involvement.  I suppose my own neglect at times of His Real Presence in me--whether it be when frustrated or feeling despair, or in spiritual or temporal acedia--finds its equivalent in the metaphor.

This is the house, and I am in it, and you are in it; and all within and without are affected for good or ill.  It is a temporal place yet also a spiritual place.  It represents all aspects of God's creation; it contains the hindrance of all manner and levels of sin.  It also has hope and faith and love of that which is seen and unseen, of God and of God-in-others.  It is His Church and we are the Body--somehow, someday to be made whole and perfect, subsumed and in union with all facets of His Real Presence.

I am here, and I am in the process of making all things new through, with and in His Real Presence.   This house and my soul, the Church and all souls, are purposeful realities in temporal and mystical connectedness.  This house is God's, yours, mine.  We remain in His love, and His Real Presence makes His abode in us.

Catholic Hermit Shares Dichotomies and Truths

In spiritual reading and research of  facts about well-known and lesser-known mystics, I find  two thoughts, two quotes worth sharing.  I deviate from my personal, current effort to appreciate what nameless others say, do and write, in that with these, I will "name names". 

I do so partly to emphasize they are real people with names, despite that unknown persons have no doubt thought, said, done and written similar.  It seems important for us to keep this in mind, that these people who are given special notice by others, would not care or desire to be noted as special or with having any more credence than the "least of these."  I also mention their names because we can find, no matter those who decry such as victim soul offerings, the very actions by people who the Church has approved as canonized saints.

One person, Therese Martin, is typically referred to in the Catholic Church as St. Therese of the Child Jesus.  She offered herself as a victim soul on the Solemnity of the Holy

Trinity (first Sunday after Pentecost in the liturgical calendar).  Her offering included this prayer:

"O my God!  Blessed Trinity, in order to live in an act of perfect love, I offer myself as a victim of holocaust to Thy Merciful Love...."

Another is the offering of the lesser known Medieval English hermit, St. Godric of Finchale.  He went to the river near his forest-hermitage near Durham, and he offered himself to God as a victim soul.

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From reading John of the Cross' Spiritual Canticle, of which the theme repeats the indwelling of God, comes yet another view of the classic, theological doctrine of Divine Presence. 

(This has been instilled within my soul when the Lord began uniting my soul and explaining His Real Presence in all Sacraments, during Mass.   The phrase utilized, told, instilled to me was: His Real Presence--Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  To others the phrase or label is slightly different.  But the essence is the same, yet with additional insights.  His Real Presence always provides infinite facets.)

From a book I am reading:

"God is substantially present in all beings by His contact with them as their Creator; to this presence, which is common to all, is added a special presence in the souls of the just and in the blessed, as the object of their knowledge and love in the supernatural order."

I find these thoughts, words, and actions yet more input of reality.  The first two mentioned above, St. Therese and St. Godric, specify real people of whom holiness and sanctification has been bequeathed publicly and historically.  Yet there today remain those who eschew the theology and practice of victim soul offering.  

 

The third thought shared, by John of the Cross, is that of what many known holy persons, at least two of which are given the honorable titles of "Doctor of the Church."  The thought represents, however, a reality to the people who write of it and label and describe it with varying words.  What stands out as the common thread as well as the holy point, is that the people actually and truly experienced the reality of God's life and presence within their souls--and their souls' life and presence within God.

It is a life-altering experience to have this reality of His Real Presence, the Indwelling Trinity, to remain in His Love, or however the actuality is stated.  The point remains for us to know that this is a true possibility for us to come to grasp and deeply experience, and for the reality to be lived experience every moment, day and night.  

At first the reality may be very conscious in and to us; we may do little else but think of it and speak of it to anyone who will listen.  We may not fathom how others do not share the excitement or that they question or turn away, shaking their heads. Or, they may say they already know it, but there is not the excitement and extreme of one whose being has been touched.

This touch of God, the dart of flame, the fire of having one's heart transfigured, is for each of us.  It can happen.  It will happen.  We must seek Him with all our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits.  We must fall out of love with the world, be willing to suffer any affliction, assault or ridicule, and fall in love with His Real Presence. 

We must simply wait and remain vigilant while waiting, going about our daily lives with faith, hope and love.  Practice the virtues, but wait with great anticipation and expectation for the Divine Presence, the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity. His Real Presence will become an exceptional, supernatural reality as well as a lived, actual experience that changes our interior right here and now while we are alive on this earth. This phenomenon occurs both in practical and supernal ways.

Yesterday while being with my grandson for a day, fully engaged in fun-loving participation, His Real Presence within let me know that I must continue sharing the spiritual experiences and also to write more about His Real Presence.  I am yet further from the temporal in some ways.  I've been through much suffering from those whose mindsets are formed by years of an oppressive, critical, doubting approach to the spiritual and toward those who are in the process of being touched or who have been touched by God's Indwelling.

We must free ourselves from such oppression--either coming from others or that which comes from ourselves.  Humility is not fear.  Fear is the flip side of faith.  There is nothing to fear, for God will keep His beloved souls upon the narrow path.  Even if we slip or misstep, He pulls us back either gently or if necessary, with a snatching!  

Those who are oppressed by fear or thoughts that only some in the past were blessed to experience His Real Presence in vital ways, heap weights upon themselves and view and judge others according to the made up, imposed weights.  To travel on the paths that lead to yet more oppressive laws of which there are really no means in place by which they can be enforced, wastes the soul's invitation that Jesus offers:

 "‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’" (found in Gospel of Matthew 11)